Antico Pizza

Food – I ordered the Diavola which came with spicy sopressata, pepperonata, and bufala. It was very enjoyable. Having authentic Italian pizza is a real treat and I would suggest it to anyone who hasn’t tried it yet. So what did I like about the pizza? In a country where the majority of pizza contains jarred sauce, processed cheese, and frozen meats, having a made from scratch pizza with all fresh ingredients really makes a difference in taste. Anyone can tell the difference between low quality products that aren’t fresh and the stuff that Antico uses. The taste surpasses any pizza you have had in the past and promises to be a unique experience. What did I now like? After everything I heard about this place, I was expecting the pizza to be carried out on a golden pedestal with angels singing. However, this was not the case. What happened was that there was a line out the door and a full restaurant so the workers were slapping the pizza together, as soon as it came out of the oven they slammed it into a box, the lady half way cuts in a terrible fashion, and between all the chaos my pizza didn’t cook evenly. The dough was burnt on one side and the other was about perfect. Once I had my hastily put together pizza, it was shoved in my hands and I was shoved out the door soon thereafter. When I did dig into it, the peppers were scrunched on one side and the bufala was spotty at best with a few bites being completely without it. It was tasty but it wasn’t the perfectly crafted pizza I had heard it was. Food gets a B

Ambiance – If I could make up one word to describe the ambiance here it would be hipstery. Yes, I felt like if I had worn my flannel shirt, black rimmed glasses and brought a Mac computer with me to brag about my superior pizza knowledge to all those poor souls that are having Little Ceasars, then I would have felt right at home. Old building, concrete floors, cinder block walls, and picnic tables to eat at. Oh and don’t think you get a picnic table to yourself either. Be ready to sit elbow to elbow with people you don’t know. I’m not knocking on the ambiance here, just telling you how it is and what to expect. This type of ambiance certainly has its place and I will certainly be back with people for an amazing night. Ambiance gets a B-

Service – The workers here have one objective and one objective only. Get people in and out as soon as possible. That’s not a bad thing because when there is a line out the door, if they stopped and took the time to make sure everyone was having a pleasant time, we would never get our pizza. Don’t expect anyone to be understanding if you don’t know what to order when you get to the cashier, don’t expect them to wait patiently if you need to count out your money, and certainly be on your toes for when they call your number or that lady will get angrier and angrier as she begins to scream for number 469 to get their butts up the counter and take their pizza out of her way! Once again I am not knocking on the service here, especially since this is probably the best way to run one of the most crowded restaurants in Atlanta. I am just telling you not to expect anyone to powder your butt here. Service gets a B

Price/Quality – usually in this category, in order to find a rating, I usually ask myself, would I return and pay this price gain for the same food? Well the answer for Antico is yes, but it isn’t that simple. My pizza was $21 and could be considered a size medium. About triple the cost of a chain pizza place. My problem is that I would give the pizza here a 9 out of 10 because of the superior tasting fresh/high quality ingredients, but it is hard to make pizza taste bad even if you use all the frozen and canned ingredients chain places do. I would rate chain pizza a solid 6 or 7 out of 10, so then the question become do I want to pay triple or quadruple the price for a pizza that taste only a level or two above my favorite chain place? The answer is yes but few and far between. I most likely won’t be back here by myself but when I finally score that second date with that girl I have a crush on, we will come here. I do have to say for what you receive the price is justifiable. Price/Quality gets a B

Uniqueness – Having a pizza in Atlanta that you could take to Italy and still have it called a pizza is not a common thing. There are few other places in Atlanta that even attempt to put Napoletana in their name and their pizza isn’t the same as Antico. Food is very unique. Ambiance, whether you like it or not is unique as well. You aren’t going to find this type of restaurant anywhere else in Atlanta. There are no good alternatives and this place is truly one of the most unique in Atlanta. Uniqueness gets an A+